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This is a log of my journey to Shotokan Karate Shodan and beyond.

Parts of Jion – 9/22/09 – Tuesday Karate class

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Very hard class today.  Sensei Noia not only made the class physically hard, it was mentally hard for me.

Get your pads on….

Sensei Noia gave us an interesting warm up tonight.  After we bowed in, he had us get our pads on and get a partner.  He then had us do about five minutes of free sparring to get the blood flowing.  We started with one partner and then got a different partner.  I have to really work on blocking backfists.  My second partner must have caught me half a dozen times with her backfist.  When I would move into attack, she would just step back and put the backfist about a half inch from my face.

After the free sparring, Sensei had us race our partner back and forth across the gym about six times.

Get your focus mitt…

For this drill, one partner held the focus mitt in front of them with it flat and their palm turned up.  We then stood in front of them with our left hand on their right shoulder and our right hand above our head.  We then did the dropping strike from Jion but instead of stepping forward, we stepped back away from our partner so that we didn’t hit them.  The draw hand was the key to my power.  If I just dropped my arm and down into a horse stance there was power but the pulling the draw hand back made a lot more.  We did the drill with both arms.

Next, we did the same movements but without our partner and moving just like the way they are done in Jion.

The next drill was the double block, downward and upward into the rising elbow strike from Jion.  For the first move, your partner held the focus mitt at about thigh level and we did the double block striking the pad on the downward block.  Next, our partner held the pad higher up and we did the rising elbow strike.  A lot of people call that move a block but I like to think of it as a strike, the way that Sensei Cieplik explained it to me.

The next drill started in a cross leg stance with the x-block.  From there we stepped back and did the double downward block, then stepped forward into the double outward block and then into the over head x-block.  We did these movements both separate and in groups but it seems like we spent a lot of time on cross leg stance.  After doing these moves many times, we added the outward block and stepping forward front punch.  The theme tonight for these moves was speed.  Sensei made us do many moves over again because we were moving too slow.

We finished up with some full kata.  Sensei had us do Jion as he counted, moving like we did in the drills above.  For our last kata, Sensei Noia let us do our own kata but he gave us a choice of doing however we wanted.  This meant we could do it all out, slow speed, fast speed, lots of power, low power, just hands, just legs or however we wanted.  I ended up doing Bassai Dai at a speed as fast as I could with less power.

It was really helpful working on Jion like this and I hope that we have a class like this but with the focus on Bassai Dai soon.

Tuesday Karate class – 6/3/08 – Parts of kata.

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What an excellent class. Sensei Noia really taught a great class.

I am not sure what was different but every bit of the class felt right. I am not sure if my body was just on today but the moves went together like pieces in a puzzle.

We started with a hard warm up and some stretching and then got right into it.

Sensei had us start in a horse stance. We did the normal drills of punches, double punches, rising blocks, downward block, inward blocks and outward blocks. We then turned sideways and did side snap kicks across and back the dojo.

Next, we were moving forward doing combinations. Sensei was calling out the movements in Japanese. For example, we did moving forward, downward block, front leg roundhouse kick and reverse punch.

After that, Sensei had us work on some kata parts. We started with Jion, He had us do the first movement about five times and then had us do the first, second and kick with sanbon zuki over about five times. Then we did the third movement with the kick and sanbon zuki about five times. All of the movements started with the end of the last movement. Next came the reach, block punch about five times and then we did from that movement all the way to the first kiai. From the first kiai, we did the turn with double block and then into the horse stance with hook punch. We then did the double block, shift into horse stance going both ways 10 times. We then did the move from the horse stance into the downward block.

Next came Bassai Dai. It was really cool to work on that kata. We did the first move about five times, then the first move again, turn into the outward block with reverse outward block. Then from the start again, turn into the outward block, then reverse outward block into the reverse inward block and outward. We spent a some more time doing moves after that all the way to the low knee side kick.

We then went out to do our entire kata. My first Jion felt really good. I was the last one to finish. I took my time and did each move not worrying about anyone else. We then did a second kata and again, I finished last. I did the kata like I felt it should be done. After those, Sensei Noia had us each pick a Heian kata. I normally would have picked Heian Shodan but I wanted to Heian Yondan. It felt excellent. With the exception of the second from the last backstance knife hand block, it had to be one of the best Heian Yondans that I have ever done.

After our last kata, Sensei asked for some to volunteer to stretch out the class since everyone worked so hard. I did and I picked my friend Robert to help out. It felt good to stretch right after class and I might start doing that on my own going forward.

Class has just been better and better lately. I am really starting to relax when I am training and I think it is helping.

Thursday Karate Class – 5/29/08 – How to bow and I need to RELAX.

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Sensei Cieplik started class with an interesting lesson. After we finished in seiza, we always stand up and bow to Sensei. Sensei said that he was going to tell us how to bow like it was explained to him.

First, the back of our neck needs to touch the collar of our gi throughout the bow. Both feet are together and pointed out about 45 degrees. Bend at the waist and exhale until all air is expelled from the lungs. When bent over, keep your eyes on whoever your are bowing to. After the air is expelled, straighten up and inhale. He also said that the amount we bow is based on rank. If you are bowing to someone of a higher rank than you, you bend over farther. I am very glad that he explained this us since I often just bend for about a second and walk away.

It was cold in the dojo and Sensei had us do a little different warm up than normal. We started shifting in place back an forth. We then threw some jabs and reverse punches. He then had us throw a front leg front snap kick followed with a rear leg front snap kick. After a few mistakes, throwing the double kicks while shifting felt very natural. He said just let the legs flow and do not worry about the power. For the first time it felt as if my legs were whips.

Next we did another new movement. We started with our feet about two feet apart. We then moved our feet together by moving them heel to toe until they were a few inches apart, then we threw a front snap kick and moved our feet back out again. This really got the ankles warmed up well. This movement led into another movement where we were able to move our front foot forward without showing any tells. The idea was to keep our oponent focused on our eyes while we move closer to them.

Then we did front snap kick with front punch. Sensei Wail gave me some good advice on moving my hips forward when doing my kicks. He told me to keep my stationary leg bent and then throw the kick. This forced me to extend my hips when doing the kick. It just goes to show, no matter how much you train, there is always something to learn or improve on.

Sensei had us spend a lot of time working on moving forward into zenkutsu dachi with soto uke, into kiba dachi with empi and uraken. He often speaks of the salad bowl movement. This does not mean like a salad bowl, instead you move in the curved shape of the inside of a salad bowl. When moving from the front stance into the horse stance, you load up somewhat on the back leg then move in a downward curve, under your opponents arm and into their ribs.

We also did some normal combinations. He explained the difference between rising block and rising strike. With a rising block, your moves almost vertical until just before it gets to about head level, then it turns horizontal and the wrist turns.

We were also working on back stance with knife hand block, front snap kick and front stance with nukite. Sensei had us do this move in a narrow line even for the front stance with nukite. The idea was to realize that our attacker is not necessarily right in front of us. They might be off to one side or even moving away.

Another point that he made was about balance. An athlete is on the line between white and black and those who are not athletes are in the grey area.

We did a few kata’s. We started with Tekki Shodan. My kata felt really slow but extremely strong.

Sensie sent us 3rd kyu’s off to the side with Sensei Wail to work on Jion. Sensei Wail had us work on the movements after the second front snap kick with sanbon zuki. He said to reach, move into a cat stance and block, then move into a front stance and punch. Doing the move as he counted was simple enough but putting all together and executing it at a fast pace wasn’t easy for me but the more times we did it, the better it felt. He also had us work in the cross leg stance with the X-block and moving back into the front stance. He said to squeeze our legs together in the the cross leg stance and when moving back into the front stance, tighten the hamstrings and grip the floor.

After this, Sensie Cieplik called us back to see our Jion. There were five of us in front and he gave each of us advice on what to work on and improve. He told me that it is fine to put my heart into my kata but that I need to RELAX. Being too intense and trying too hard doesn’t allow the kata to flow like it should. He had mentioned in the past that kata should be poetry for the eyes.

Another great tip is when saying the name of the kata, make sure it comes from the lower abdomen and not the chest or throat. If you say if from the throat, your head will move forward much like a crane bird.

I was able to talk with Sensei for a while after class and he made a comment about leaving class with more each time. He wants everyone to leave with something more than they came to class with. Now, this could mean even more frustration but that can lead to solutions to issues or problems that you might be having with your Karate. Learning more or having more to work on is still more.

I am sure there was more good stuff but there is just so much, I am lucky that I remembered what I did.

I really felt in the zone tonight. My body was working better than usual and Sensei did sign both my wifes and my exam papers.